“Half-wild”, “questionably white”, “bold” and with “the attraction of the woods that has been in their blood for generations”, or even “primitive”: the logs of logging companies and the government American describe in these terms the French Canadians who migrated between 1840 and 1955. Through these documents and philosophical or anthropological writings, the researcher Jason Newton demonstrates how one justified the exploitation of these immigrants by attributing to them intrinsic racial characteristics.
At the turn of the twentiethe century, about a million French Canadians set out for the United States in search of a better future. These migrations continued until very recently, sometimes on a more seasonal basis, to take up better paid jobs. This memory is still alive, as evidenced by several accounts of Quebecers who left between the 1950s and 1970s published in our pages last Saturday.
These immigrants, mainly from the province of Quebec, were seen at the time as “racially uniquely suited” to lumberjack work, Newton said in an interview. A historian specializing in the forest industry, he is currently completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. These skills, which were believed to be “innate”, served to legitimize the use of this labor force from the 19th century.e century.
Today, the “whiteness” of the French Canadians who set out to pyre in the forests of the Northeast seems indisputable to us… and obvious to the naked eye. “You think you can recognize a white person when you see them,” says Newton. Like the Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants, the lumberjacks of Quebec were nevertheless at the time between “whites and non-whites”, he writes in an article published in the academic journal. Plowing / Labor.
Perceived historically – and often wrongly – as individuals “of more mixed blood” with that of the First Nations and as regulars of remote areas, French Canadians have been described as having a “swarthy complexion” in American literature of the 19th century.e century.
The writings of Henry David Thoreau, especially Walden, published in 1854, already hint at the stereotype of the strong French Canadian with iron endurance, at the expense of advanced intelligence.
On the other hand, we sometimes relied on the imperatives of the colonization of Quebec to explain this particular inclination, the need to clear land and live in nature having made them “half-wild”. Their deep devotion to Catholicism also keeps them in “innocence” and “deference”: in short, they are made to be governed rather than to govern themselves.
A “science” made up of prejudices
This idea that French Canadians lacked the ability to rule themselves persisted in subsequent intellectual developments, says Jason Newton on the phone. The brave men from the north had the strength and familiarity with the forest necessary for the great enterprise of “civilizing the wild world”, but not the independence of mind to “be in a position of authority.” They were therefore inferior, according to the racial thought of the time.
The development of “race sciences”, including eugenics at the beginning of the XXe century, continues to support this vision. “It must be understood that with the industrial revolution, old prejudices are transformed into modern prejudices”, describes the historian Martin Pâquet. A specialist in the French-Canadian diaspora and professor at Laval University, he confirms that a “scale” of whiteness persists even within Caucasian groups. “And in the eyes of the people of the time, it is seen as objective, because it is based on an observation of nature,” he says.
The racial outlook is also based on a different language, religion and socioeconomic condition, he adds: “You are poor and you come from elsewhere. “
It is a time when capitalism and the forest industry are developing rapidly, notes the American researcher. “We’re going to want to hire these workers who know how to manipulate the natural world more efficiently, according to our assumptions. We want to make more money, essentially. “
The “instinct”, or “affinity” of French Canadians for life in the deep woods, can therefore be put to use, do not fail to note the logging companies. The success of many of them is directly attributable to this hardworking workforce, which accepts to be paid less, which one can “leave to itself and which will build its own camp”, says ironically. Mr. Newton.
Tensions
“The capitalist system needs a workforce that allows it to increase its profit margin”, adds Martin Pâquet in turn. It is therefore convenient to consider Canadians more gifted for this type of activity, since they are paid less, he notes. This competition fuels “racial and racist” sentiment, he says. Tensions appear.
“We tell ourselves that they are different from us, that they are not our equal work companions. So that they are our competitors and that they steal our jobs, ”summarizes Jason Newton.
The large Maine diaspora was also the target of the supremacist organization of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s, during its second resurgence.
In response to tensions between American and Canadian workers, Washington also formalized this temporary immigration system in the 1930s, under a program of ” bonded labor », According to the expression in English. Each worker is then “linked” exclusively to a company, in the sense that a worker receives a permit bearing the name of his employer and the limited dates of his contract.
Finally, history is repeating itself today in some ways with other immigrants, believe the two researchers. The phenomenon of temporary foreign workers from Mexico or Guatemala in agriculture in Quebec is also part of a model where they accept being paid less than Quebecers.
We tell ourselves that they are different from us, that they are not our equal work companions. So, that they are our competitors and that they steal our jobs.
Like Quebecers in the 19th centurye and in XXe century, these men or sometimes these families leave their country of origin after having become indebted or having lost their own access to land. They are attributed “cultural” or “ethnic” qualities, for example by referring to their ability to withstand heat better or to work faster than Canadian-born citizens, says Newton.
Finally, all these observations can help us “to question our own assumptions about race today. The categories we call ‘races’ today are socially constructed and are subject to change since they have changed before, ”he says.
It is also necessary to keep the memory that we ourselves are immigrant-emigrants, concludes Professor Pâquet. “There is a certain family memory of these events. But leaving has often been seen as a form of failure. We said to each other: “They’re not real.” So we may have tended to keep these elements quiet. “